For Honor Open Beta Guide To Mastering Game Modes, Factions & More

Ubisoft has done a good job in promoting the For Honor game. They were able to perfectly spark the interests of aspiring players even before the official release coming this February 14. But before the actual game, Ubisoft launched a For Honor open beta which runs from February 9 to 12. Here is a complete list to mastering the open beta.

Modes

The For Honor open beta offers four game modes – 1v1 Duel, 2v2 Brawl, 4v4 Dominion, and 4v4 Elimination. The two former modes are a best-out-of-five combat style. 4×4 Dominion blends strategy and onslaught. In this mode, defending different areas adds bonus points. 4×4 Elimination may be similar to 1v1 and 2v2.

The Factions

In the For Honor open beta, players will be able to play as Knights, Vikings, and Samurais. Each faction contains four heroes, specifically the Vanguards, Assassins, Heavies, and Hybrids. The heroes have unique weapons, skill sets, fighting tactics and strategies.

For the Knights, there are Wardens under Vanguards, Conquerors under Heavies, and Peacekeepers under Assassins available. On the other hand, the Vikings will have Raiders under Vanguards, Warlords under Heavies, and Berserkers under Peacekeepers. The Samurais have Kenseis under Vanguards, Nobushis under Hybrids, and Orochis under Assassins.

New players are advised to start off with any of the Vanguards before proceeding to more difficult characters under the fanctions in the likes of the Orochi. Nobushi and Warlord are highly recommended in this aspect.

Maps

The open beta offers six playable maps – Sanctuary Bridge, River Fort, Citadel Bridge, Forest, Canyon, and Cathedral. The map varies for some more specialized game modes. For instance, the maps are smaller for 1-versus-1 (1v1) Duels.

Sanctuary Bridge has three lanes and gate switches at the ends of the outer lanes. This lets the battle occur inside and helps avoid flanking. It is the only map to have an interactive environment.

River Fort is more compact because Spawn points would be the North and South, and objectives in the 4v4 Dominion would be East, West and Central. The 1v1 and 2v2 Variants offer more verticality than other maps. Citadel Bridge is the widest map in 4v4, thus giving the most variety in tactical positioning, even offering a bit of espionage in the game’s tactics.

Forest is a map for smaller battles providing restricted playstyle. Canyon and Cathedral, on the other hand, only vary in terms of backdrop, though these are also small maps.

Back up when your stamina is low as advised by Jason Vandenberghe, For Honor creative director.Image source: Screen grab from Youtube/IGN account

Main Tips

Jason Vandenberghe, creative director of For Honor, gave five main tips in acing the game as he divulged with IGN. First is to manage stamina. Running out of stamina means that the player will slow down. Thus, he advised players to “back up, recharge.”

Next, use the environment. Find a wall to reduce the number of enemies attacking. Then, grab the opponent if they are growing close in proximity. In line with this, the player himself should manage his distance because this will help him perform better. Lastly: the “most important thing… in a fight is to not get hit” and to block attacks, according to Vandenberghe. This builds up the revenge mirror to power up and do a counter attack.